Mumpreneur UK

While Ella Announcements is what I like to call my "full time business", it's not the only business baby I have in my life.

Back in 2009 I met Laura Rigney, who, within a month of meeting, became my business partner. Together we organised the very first national conference for mums in business... The Mumpreneur Conference 2009. The event, organised in just a few short weeks, took place in October 2009 and was a huge success. Within days, we were organising our 2010 event (The Mumpreneur Conference 2010, unsurprisingly). It is undeniable that Laura and I make a cracking team. I'd say I'm the creativity in the partnership, and she's the gob! (I mean this in the best possible way, Laura!)

At our 2010 event, we launched Mumpreneur UK, a website aimed at supporting and celebrating mums who run their own business. We're both "mumpreneurs" and we both know how difficult it can be at times, how exciting it is a lot of the time, how important it is to have the relevant support available AND how relieving it is to have others to share it with. Mumpreneur UK hopes to meet the needs of all mums in business who are starting up, or running, a business and we hope to be a voice for business mums in the UK through a number of initiatives and events.

If you're a mum running a business, or interested in the possibility of starting a business, visit the website www.mumpreneuruk.com (and you might even be interested in entering our event, Mumpreneur Idol... more details to follow in January!)

Pictured above: Me (the whale on the left), and Laura!

Say THANKS!

Well, it's over for another year! I hope you had as much fun this weekend as we did over in Ella Announcements HQ, and hope Santa brought you everything you wanted!

The Christmas Thank You Card orders are already coming in, and we'll begin sending out proofs this week. If you want to ensure you still qualify for the 2 day proof turnaround time, then it's vital you get your order is NOW, as this tends to become the busiest time for Ella Announcements (Everyone suddenly remembers the January/February party they need invites for!) and the proof turnaround time can extend to several days overnight.

FREE Bespoke Designs

As with our Christmas Cards, we're offering you a FREE bespoke design this year for your Christmas Card thank you's. We have a few Christmas thank you's on the site, but we appreciate this is not enough to choose from. So, we invite you to look around the photo thank you galleries, and also the Christmas gallery, and see if any design catches your eye. Place your order through there, and then email order@ellaannouncements.com with any design ideas and suggestions, along with your wording and photographs. We'll create a design especially for you, that no-one will have sent out before you! A very special way to say thank you to your family and friends.

I'm now going to start uploading my Christmas pictures and get my own thank you cards designed, so I've shared my Christmas 2008 christmas card design with you until I've pulled my finger out :)

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions regarding the Christmas Card Thank You's, or placing an order over the Christmas Period. (Remember: The next print date is 03/01!)

Merry Christmas Folks!

Well, today was the last print day before Christmas so I guess Ella Announcements is closed for Christmas now!

But fear not! We're still around.

We will still be processing proofs, and you are welcome to place an order at any time throughout the Christmas period. We'll aim to get a proof to you within 2/3 working days, and will aim to respond to all email enquiries within 48 hours.

I'll likely not get a chance to blog between now and Christmas with the kids now off school and some last minute Christmas preparations, so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas time! I hope you all have a lovely time with your families, and take lots of snaps for those thank you cards ;)

Ho ho ho!

We want to hear from YOU!

It's nearing the new year, and a new year is always the perfect excuse for a new start, and a new start is a perfect excuse for new products or features within the business.

What would YOU like to see from Ella Announcements in 2011? Email info@ellaannouncements.com with any feedback, or anything you think could improve the website, and if it's at all possible, we'll see if we can implement this at some point within 2011!!

Thanks for helping to improve Ella Announcements!

Christmas Card Deadline!

Today is the very last day you can order Christmas Cards, to ensure they'll be with you before this week is up.

You can now ONLY order the cardstock options (that's everything minus the photo paper prints!) and you have until 3pm to do it. If you order after this time, I cannot guarantee you'll get your Christmas Cards in time.

If you order today, you need to ensure you check your email periodically to approve your cards before tomorrow is up.

Quick!!!!

Wedding Thank You Cards: Nichola & Richard

As well as baby stationery, we also love to work on designs for your big day! Our Wedding Thank You Card designs will be uploaded to the website in the coming few weeks, and here's a sneaky peak...

We were lucky enough to design Nichola & Richards Wedding Invitations, and were delighted when they came back for some photo thank you cards. The colour scheme was based on their invitation, with the focus being their beautiful photographs!

If you'd like a design like Nichola & Richards, contact us to find out how, from just 90p per print and a free bespoke design!

Isabel's 3rd Birthday Invitations

This time next week, my baby girl turns 3. I can't quite believe it! Now that she is at nursery we've decided this year that she can have a party... Well... Invite a few friends around for a boogie and cake!!

When it comes to designing Ella's invitations, the girlier the better. They've always been pink and flowery with butterflies and beautifulness. Isabel is NOT that kind of girl. Dont get me wrong... she loves dollies and dancing and princess dresses, but she's a complete scraggamuffin, she has a deeper voice than Joey, and if you put her in a baby pink dress, it just wouldn't look right. From newborn she was in blue sleepsuits (girls ones, though!!), bright fuschia dresses and red and navy outfits.

So how to create a 3 year old girls invite, without the pink flowers and butterflies?

I love duckegg blue for girls, alongside brighter colours. I chose a deeper version of the blue, alongside a deep dusky purple and bright pink and think it works perfectly. Isabel loves it!

This invite will be available on the website soon, however if you'd like to order it in the meantime, just drop us an email to get the ball rolling!

Nativities, Birthdays and Christmas Holidays!

Nativities

This afternoon I'm off to watch Joey's ABC Nativity. He's a donkey dancer. I always secret mocked the boy "dancers" before... particularly those who had to wear angel outfits... and now my son is one. I shall mock no more ;-) So we will not be at work this afternoon (8th). The same accounts for Monday 13th, when Isabel and her nursery will be treating us to some lovely Christmas songs during the afternoon.

Birthdays

We'd also like to inform you that we'll not be around at any point on Thursday 16th December, due to Isabel celebrating her 3rd birthday. Any orders or enquiries will be dealt with the following day.

Christmas Holidays!

We thought this would also be a good time to let you know about our Christmas working days. It's a little complicated, so listen up! We cannot guarantee to process any printing from Friday 17th December 2010 onwards.

We will still be around to deal with email enquiries throughout the Christmas period, and will work on designing proofs, ready for the January printing. If you would like to place an order from 18th Dec - 2nd Jan we welcome you to do so. We will be working hard to ensure your order is ready to be with you during the first week of January, and will be able to have proofs with you ASAP. We can expect proof turnaround times to increase through January as this is always our busiest month, so it's a good idea to get that proof approved early! Any E-Products (design only options, business design, etc) will be unaffected.

We will return to normal as of Monday 3rd January including our 48 hour proof turnaround time, and 72 hour print turnaround.

If you have any questions about our Christmas printing break, please do not hesitate to contact us.

24 Hour Turnaround Time...

Now that most people have got their Christmas cards all wrapped up, and the crazy rush has subsided, we're excited to tell you that there is now a 24 hour turnaround time!

If you order today, you'll have your proof by the end of play tomorrow. We anticipate that this turnaround time will extend until Christmas (although this is not guaranteed), so make the most it and order your announcements, invites or thank you cards this month!

Last Day for Photo Prints [Xmas]

Today, at 3pm, is the final day to order photo paper prints for your Christmas cards. Should you proceed, beyond 3pm, with ordering this print option for your Christmas Cards, we cannot guarantee that they will arrive in time to hand them out for Christmas.

You can order all other print options for another week though, so you haven't missed out! Quick, go order today!!

The Kids Christmas Cards

I have three kids at school/nursery, and a minimum of 140 classmates to write cards for... Thats my idea of hell! This is the perfect excuse for m to take advantage of my own products with a set of personalised christmas cards for each child.

They were allowed to help with the design of their cards, choosing their photo, colours and design elements from various website examples, and here's what they came up with!

Isaac Charlie's Announcement

Ok, so I'm a little late with this, but I really struggle with my own designs. Having no specification and the design world at my finger tips makes my awfully indecisive mind quiver in fear!

But 4 weeks after his arrival, they're done! Here is the birth announcement for my beautiful Isaac!

Photographs were taken by one of our recommended photographers, B72 Imaging.